1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clothes dryer exhaust vents, and more particularly, to a vent that is installed in a wall constructed with standard sized studs prior to the installation of drywall for later use in venting dryer exhaust.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, clothes dryer exhaust is vented out of a house through an exterior wall. When the dryer is positioned against an exterior wall, the outlet of the dryer is typically attached to a cylindrical vent that simply passes through the exterior wall. However, in situations where the dryer cannot be positioned against an exterior wall, the dryer exhaust is often vented through the main floor into the basement or crawl space below the house and then through an exterior wall. Unfortunately though, venting dryer exhaust through a basement or crawl space presents a well-known problem.
Standard dryer vent piping is four inches in diameter but the cavity in a wall constructed with standard two-by-four studs is only three and one-half inches deep. Consequently, standard dryer vent piping cannot be installed inside a standard wall and thus cannot be used in most homes to vent dryer exhaust from a first floor dryer to the basement via a wall. As a result, venting dryer exhaust to a basement requires either the installation of non-standard sized vent pipe inside the wall or the use of exposed standard sized vent pipe. However, neither of these alternatives is desirable. The use of non-standard sized vent pipe can result in airflow resistance, since such pipe typically has a smaller diameter than that of a dryer exhaust outlet, which is conventionally four inches. On the other hand, the use of exposed standard sized dryer vent pipe is unsightly.
The prior art includes two devices for venting a first floor dryer to the basement. U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,477, issued Jan. 7, 1997 to M. B. Carfagno, Sr., teaches a dryer vent box consisting of two interconnecting rectangular boxes that are connected to form one elongated rectangular vent. The elongated rectangular vent fits inside a wall constructed with two-by-four studs and has two cylindrical openingsxe2x80x94one opening for receiving dryer exhaust and one for expelling the exhaust into dryer vent piping. However, this device has at least three drawbacks. First, the device consists of two components that must be assembled prior to installation. Assembly of these components can be time consuming, and also presents the risk of an air leak if not properly assembled. Second, due to the configuration of the two rectangular boxes, the lower cylindrical opening can only be oriented in one of two possible horizontal positions and, thereby, limits options when connecting to dryer vent piping in the basement. Third, the device is particularly susceptible to lint accumulation in the portion of the elongated rectangular vent below the bottom of the lower cylindrical opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,396, issued Jan. 2, 1990 to T. P. King teaches an adjustable dryer vent connection consisting of a box-shaped housing that fits between standard two-by-four studs. One face of the housing has a cylindrical opening and four accordion panels that work together to change the location of the opening on the face. The bottom of the housing rests on the two-by-four floor plate and has an opening that is connected to exhaust vent piping passing through the floor plate. Because the device is configured with its bottom opening positioned above the floor plate and within the wall, the bottom opening cannot be more than three and one-half inches in diameter and therefore cannot be connected directly to standard four inch dryer exhaust vent piping. As a result, the device""s three and one-half inch exhaust opening can cause airflow resistance.
Other patents showing devices for venting dryer exhaust into a wall include U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,049, issued Jul. 1, 1975 to P. Adams, Jr. (clothes dryer vent attachment for a mobile home); U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,820, issued Nov. 1, 1994 to M. R. McKay (wall insert providing a recessed area in a wall to accommodate washer and dryer fittings); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,476,183 and 6,419,102, issued Dec. 19, 1995 and Jul. 16, 2002, respectively, to R. J. Harpenau (recessed wall boxes for attaching clothes dryer exhaust vent piping thereto); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,418, issued May 15, 2001 to D. R. Gomulinski (low profile dryer exhaust vent).
Consequently, none of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed and therefore an in-wall dryer vent for venting to another floor solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The in-wall dryer vent for venting to another floor is used to vent clothes dryer exhaust to a floor other than that on which the clothes dryer is located. The invention has an upper portion adapted for installation within the three and one-half inch cavity inside a wall constructed with standard two-by-four studs, and has a lower portion that expands to a width of at least four inches from front to back. The upper portion has a flanged opening adapted to extend through drywall and attach to standard clothes dryer outlet coupling devices. The lower portion has an outlet tube adapted for coupling to standard dryer vent piping.
Accordingly it is a primary object of the invention to provide a device that enables venting of dryer exhaust to a floor other than that on which the dryer is located via a wall constructed with standard two-by-four studs.
It is another object of the invention to provide a device for venting dryer exhaust to another floor that has a flanged outlet oriented on a vertical axis and adapted for direct attachment with standard dryer venting piping.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a device for venting dryer exhaust to another floor that fits between standard size studs within a wall and thereby saves space and is easy and inexpensive to install.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a device for venting dryer exhaust to another floor that is clean, simple and attractive in appearance.
It is a further object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.